Chapter 57 : Chapter 57
Chapter 57. Help Me
“S-save me.”
Number 1, lying face down on the ground, said with a swollen face.
“You bastard!”
Piontek kicked Number 1’s head without hesitation.
“When did you ever get to talk about being a kid or whatever.”
It seemed he was dissatisfied with being called a kid.
‘That kid is really petty too. He beat him up so much during the fight and he’s still hitting him.’
As soon as the battle started, Piontek shot lightning at the enemy. It seemed like a stronger blow than when he fought the Amirios clan. That was how Number 4 was knocked out in a single blow. Piontek didn't stop there. He wrapped his sword in lightning and unleashed a powerful strike at another opponent, even shouting villainous things like ‘Die!’. Anyone watching would have thought he was fighting a mortal enemy. He cut Number 3’s leg and broke Number 2’s arm. He ignored pleas to stop and beat the man to a pulp. And yet, as if something was lacking, he tried to hit him more whenever he had the chance. He was still hitting him now.
“I didn't even make a mistake, but I had to walk on eggshells because of some bastards!”
……I don’t think I ever gave him such a hard time.
Anyway, I grabbed the hand of the unstoppable Piontek.
“Stop hitting him. I have something to hear from that guy.”
“Tsk.”
It seemed that if he let out any more of his frustration, Number 1 would lose consciousness and collapse. His head might crack and he might just repeat nonsense.
I crouched down in front of Number 1 and poked him.
“Now! Let’s have a pleasant conversation.”
“……”
Number 1, stuck to the floor, looked up at me. This made a proper conversation difficult.
“Sit up straight.”
“……”
“If you don’t want to, I have no choice. I’ll have to wake up the rest of them. And I’ll pull out your tongue.”
“No! I’ll sit! I’ll sit.”
The guy scrambled to his feet.
“Why did you attack us?”
“Why do you keep asking the obvious? Someone paid us to kill you. So we’re doing just that.”
“Who ordered it?”
“……I don’t know.”
Seeing Number 1 answer with his eyes wide open, I couldn’t help but sigh.
“I-I really don’t know. I’m just doing as I’m told from above.”
Number 1, sensing that my mood was unusual, said urgently.
“As you’re told. Then I can find out if I go to the person who gave you the order?”
“No.”
“Why don’t you think a little before you speak?”
“I was there when the request was made.”
“……Then why don’t you know?”
“His face was all covered. So I don’t know. This is the truth. It’s not a lie. What do I have to gain by lying?”
“How would I know? I’m not you.”
“……That’s true. But you’re a kid and I’m an adult, so why are you speaking informally…”
As the atmosphere relaxed, he was thoughtlessly trying to raise his head. This is why you can’t let thugs off the hook.
“Are you feeling better now?”
“Huh? Why are you suddenly… asking that…”
“Because you seem well enough to live.”
I showed Number 1 a bright smile filled with killing intent.
“No, I’m fine… sir. What does age matter?”
“Good. Let’s just be good on our own.”
“……Yes.”
I could feel the injustice in his answer, but what could he do? He should have fought better.
“Let’s sort this out. So a guy with his face covered came and asked you to kill me?”
“That’s right.”
“How much was it for?”
“What? Ah… 50 million Gold. As a down payment.”
As the price came out of Number 1’s mouth, the expressions of Adellian, Piontek, and Odekerkh changed to surprise. And I was surprised too.
“A-a down payment, th-then how m-much is the r-rest?”
As expected of a merchant's son, he reacted to the amount without resistance.
“He said he’d give another 50 million Gold… at least, that’s what he said.”
“O-one hundred million. G-goodness.”
Odekerkh kept letting out hollow breaths as if he couldn’t believe it.
“He said he’d give 100 million if you killed him?”
Piontek, also finding it unbelievable, asked Number 1.
“That’s what I said! 100 million is 100 million!”
“Ha! This doesn’t make… wow, a 100-million-Gold-man.”
Piontek looked at me with sparkling eyes. It seemed that even for a child from a wealthy family, the amount of 100 million Gold was enough to make one’s heart flutter.
“What? Want to get your hands on some money? Should I offer my neck?”
“What are you talking about? It’s because it’s amazing.”
“Let me know if you’re short on money. I’ll give you a chance to risk your life. Though I won’t be the one dying.”
“I said no!”
As expected, Piontek was fun to poke. That aside, a guy who could casually offer 100 million Gold…
“How did the guy who offered 100 million know I was in the Black Market?”
“It seems he saw you by chance. We were initially talking about another matter.”
“By chance?”
He came for another matter, then saw me and changed his mind?
“What was the original matter you were working on?”
“That’s…”
“Why? Is it uncomfortable to talk about? Think carefully. Whether you’ll be uncomfortable for a moment, or uncomfortable forever.”
“Ahem! That’s… ahem! He came to make a contract.”
“Uh-huh. That’s an answer with the core missing. This means.”
I approached Number 1 and stomped on his crotch.
“Krrgh.”
“You’ll become a man with no core.”
“Krrk! H-he wanted us to work. T-to work exclusively for him!”
The word ‘exclusively’ caught my ear.
‘Is this the 4th Prince’s doing?’
The Hoso Merchant Guild failed to kill me. Even if I wanted to question them about it, the guild had locked its doors and I couldn't reach them. So is he looking for a new guild?
“Did he look young?”
“Age? His voice seemed young…”
“And? Hmm, you know what?”
I made eye contact with Number 1 and raised the corner of my mouth.
At that, Number 1’s rotten pupils shook like crazy.
“The brain needs stimulation to work. Intense stimulation.”
I drew Dawn and stabbed mercilessly at his crotch.
Thwack!
His crotch was torn, revealing yellowish flesh. Number 1 was not just crying and snotting, but also pissing himself.
“Aish, damn it. That’s disgusting.”
“No. This is not under my control…”
“Enough. Talk. If you can’t do it properly, I’ll really cut it off.”
“His build was about the same as that friend’s. His voice seemed young.”
Number 1 said, pointing at Piontek.
‘It wasn’t the 4th Prince who came in person. Is it one of the people he hangs out with? Bryn is in the infirmary, Armand is fat, and it’s not the Hoso Merchant Guild guy. Fioren Dickens. It might be that person.’
I looked at Number 1 with an indifferent eye. He had a sorrowful face, as if he had said all he could, as if there was nothing more to answer even if I asked. So I put away Dawn. Instead, I took out the pendant and thrust it at Number 1.
“N-no. What is this? I told you everything I know!”
“I’m not hitting you. Look at this carefully.”
“What is it?”
Number 1 looked back and forth between me and the pendant.
“Have you seen a crest like this before?”
“This is… a bull? Is that right?”
“Don’t ask me. Have you seen it or not?”
“I don’t think so…”
The guy looked at me as if he really didn't know anything.
“It’s from the Black Market, but you don’t know where it’s used?”
“Is it a new organization? It’s not a crest used by any of the existing guys.”
“Then what does the Hoso Merchant Guild use?”
“Them? Those bastards don’t have anything like a crest. What kind of crest would rootless bastards use?”
Number 1 scoffed and shook his head as if the Hoso Merchant Guild wasn't even worth knowing about.
I put the pendant away and took a short breath.
“Now that I have nothing more to ask… you’ll let me live…”
Number 1, watching my expression, asked to be released. So I stared at him intently. If it were up to me, I would have just dealt with him. If he was part of a guild based in the Black Market, he probably wasn't a decent human being. He didn't seem to have any qualms about assault or murder. He didn't even care that his comrades were dead. He was a guy who had crossed the minimum line of being human, with a broken concept of family.
‘It’s right to get rid of him here…’
But he was slightly useful, so I couldn't just kill him.
“Go back. Go and report that I’m dead.”
At my words, everyone’s eyes widened.
“Y-you’re just g-gonna let him go?”
“No way. If we just let him go, they’ll come in droves to catch us.”
“That’s right. We can’t just let him go.”
Odekerkh, Piontek, and Adellian vehemently expressed their opposition. As those who had experienced danger, it was natural for them to be wary of leaving a risk factor behind.
But, there was something they were missing.
“Letting him go is to our advantage.”
“What do you mean?”
Adellian asked.
“Even if those guys don’t go back, the Jordi Merchant Guild… is that right?”
Number 1 nodded.
“Yes, they’ll attack us again. There are many eyes of the Jordi Merchant Guild in the Black Market.”
“……Then what do we do?”
“We have to make them file a false report that we’re dead. There’s that guy who was struck by lightning and died over there, right? He seems to have a similar build to me, so let’s cut off his head and take it with us. Burn the face more. Then it’ll probably pass.”
At my words, the others frowned.
“Will that work?”
Piontek expressed his doubt.
“For now, they’ll take their eyes off us. It’ll allow us to move freely, right? Even if we get caught later, it won’t be right away. We can just leave the Black Market in the meantime.”
“What if he doesn’t move as we want?”
Piontek said, pointing at Number 1.
I let out a long breath and looked at Number 1.
“I-if you let me live, that will never happen. I-it’s true. Please believe me.”
Number 1 said, trembling.
I received his words, saying, ‘He says so.’
“No, how can we…”
Piontek tried to retort. At that moment, an assailant jumped out of the fog and stabbed Number 1 in the neck.
Blood spurted from Number 1’s neck. He tried to say something, but couldn't make any sound. He could only look at me and my companions with a resentful gaze.
“Crazy!”
Piontek drew his sword and guarded against the assailant. Not only him, but the other companions also gripped their weapons and went into a battle stance.
“I-I’m not an enemy. You don’t have to be on your guard.”
The guy who had stabbed Number 1 to death raised both his hands to convey that he had no intention of attacking.
“It’s that person from before.”
Michelle, who had been quiet until now, opened her mouth.
“Huh? It’s the person who was kicked out of the bar.”
Adellian also remembered the identity of the assailant.
That made it even more strange and suspicious. A man who was so helplessly kicked out, suddenly appears and kills someone?
“Who are you?”
I drew Dawn and aimed it at his neck.
“I-I am n-not your enemy.”
“I don’t know about that. Your name.”
“Pardon?”
It was seriously annoying that he was pretending not to know, making an innocent face when he clearly did.
Screech.
A drop of crimson blood trickled down from the assailant’s neck where Dawn had grazed it.
“Tell me your name.”
“My name is Nigues. Claude Nigues.”
He stated his name without batting an eye. His appearance at the pub was clearly a lie.
“Your circle?”
“……”
“You said you’re not an enemy? Then there must be a reason for this, right? From what I can see, it looks like you need help.”
“……That’s right.”
“Yes. If you need help, you should at least tell me that much before asking. Don’t you think?”
Nigues bit his dry, chapped lips a couple of times.
I waited for his answer without saying anything else.
“2nd Circle.”
“Then you had no reason to be beaten like that at the pub, so why did you do it?”
“There’s no good in making a scene, is there?”
“Wasn’t that enough of a scene?”
“The problem gets bigger when it involves organizations, not just individuals.”
He also understood the ways of the Black Market. In that case, it meant he had something he wanted to handle quietly…
“Then shall we get to the main point now?”
I sheathed my sword and sat on the ground.
Nigues, recognizing that a forum for conversation had opened, also found a suitable spot and sat down.
“What are you trying to do?”
Adellian asked what the current situation was.
“We have to hear the reason.”
I passed the right to speak to Nigues.
Naturally, everyone’s gaze turned to Nigues.
“I need your help. Will you join me in destroying the Moonlight Festival?”
Nigues prostrated himself before everyone, begging for help.
“M-Moonlight Festival!”
Odekerkh reacted. His voice was trembling more severely than usual. His gaze was fierce.
The intense emotion he had shown before seemed to be related to something called the Moonlight Festival.
“What’s the Moonlight Festival?”
Adellian asked Odekerkh.
“On the d-day the waning crescent moon rises…”
Odekerkh, who was answering, stopped talking. He was clenching his fists with all his might.
It felt like he was struggling to swallow his intense emotions.
“What on the day the waning crescent moon rises? What do they do that day?”
Piontek, feeling frustrated by the incomplete sentence, urged for an answer.
“A l-large-scale a-auction is held.”
“They sell things? What kind of things?”
“T-treasures. A-artifacts. I-important d-documents…”
“Things that are worth selling at an auction. Are they selling stolen goods?”
Odekerkh nodded at Piontek’s words. Then, he moved his lips as if to continue the words he couldn't say.
“……P-people.”
“People?”
Yes, in the Black Market, people are money.
“Therefore, the Moonlight Festival must be abolished. So will you help me?”
Nigues, noticing that negative gazes had gathered regarding the Moonlight Festival, added more words.
I stroked my chin and observed the expressions of the others. Adellian and Odekerkh had determined eyes, as if they had decided something. Piontek was expressing his fatigue with his face, and Michelle… she seemed to have no particular thoughts. In that case, there was only one thing I could say.
“For free?”
Where in the world is there such a thing as a free lunch?